Centrifugal separator



. for each stage spaced from i is better understo Patented Aug.

This invention WILELIAM C. COLEMAN, OF WICHITA, KAITSAS.

CENTRIFUGAL SEPARATOR.

Application filed September 15 1924. Serial No. 737,860.

relates to centrifugal sepa rators for separating precious metal from lacer sand or or e pulp and among the objects of the invention is a provision of means for passing the through one or through a plural material to be treated more stages, preferably ity of stages between the inlet and the outlet of the machine;

In one aspect of the invention,'it-1s 1ntended to provide a perforate inner liner the stage, so that the main wall of mercury may pass from a subjacent mercury chamber upwardly between the inner stage when the de ugal action to permit the mercury liner and the wall of its vice is subjected to centrifto repose in the perforations of the inner liner slightly within the innner ends of the perforations so that a plurali cups'will be provided metal from the ore.

ty of mercury containing to extract the precious I desire that the mercury lie slightly within the perforations so that the inner liner will have the effectof a riiile preventing scouring of the mercury and causing suflicient so that all of the the action of the mercury,

agitation of the ore pulp sand will be subjected to the rifiie being effective in preventing'stratification of the ore pulp within the I have also found machine.

that-with such a device amalgamator plates maybe used to advantage, so I have pr ovided cylindrical amalgamator plates within the machine which may be used with or w ithout the inner liners, but

I prefer to combine them with the inner liners as I believe that the best results can be obtained by the combina The multiple st long period of activity or" the mercury upon v through the machine so the ore passing prefer a multi-stage to a single stage traps or aging provides a relatively machine in preference machine, and the mercury chambers are provided so that the mercury may gravitate thereinto when the machine is coming ready to be collected separating the contained affording a convenient nercury in, proper position to insure its,

for the purposes of gold, the traps also means proper -disposition when the machine is started up.

Other more or will appear as the less important, advantages nature of the invention od by reference to the fol tion of the two.

mercury chamber to a state of rest and be: course concentric with for placing the divided into a plurality of concentric stages.

The number of stages, however in so far as the gene 'ic adaptation of my invention is concerned is unimportant although specifically the construction shown is the one recommended.

The rotor or casing 1 is inthe form of an open ended cylinder having at its upper end a peripheral outwardlyidisposed flange 2 to receive the flange 8 of a cover t having a threaded collar 5 into the threaded opening 6 of which may be secured a conduit or pipe for conveying the placer sand or ore pulp into the machine. In order to evenly dispose the incoming material about the machine, I provide a distributor disk 7 concentrio with the rotor 1 and fast to the cover 4 by bolts 8. Securedto the constricted bottom'portion .9 of the rotor 1 is a 'cylind'ical wall 10 spaced from the-inner face of the portion 9 and having-an upstanding truncated conical end 11 provided with a central opening 12 which isthe outlet opening for the machine. The wall 10 is fastened to the bottom 9 by bolts 13 which pass through the flange 1% of a cylindrical inner" lining 15 spaced from the wall 10 provided with perforations 16 to receive mercury from the 17 formed by grooving the lower portion of the wall or offsetting it so that a chamber will be formed.

v The cylindrical. wall 15 extends to the base of the truncated portion 11 and it is of the outer rotor 1. The'outer rotor is provided with aperforate inner liner 18 supported upon the seat 19. by shallow feet or projections 20 so that mercury from the sump or chamber 21 formed by the space betweenthewalls 9and 10 can pass up through the space between the inner liner 18 and the wall of the rotor 1 and par liner as shown.

The cylindrical inner liner has a truncated conical bottom 23 provided with radial plates 24 the bottom being provided with a central opening to receive a threaded tube 25 with a flared bottom 26 below the outlet opening 12. Within the im'per i orate portion 27 of the inner liner 18 is a cylindrical partition consisting of a stepped up cylindrical member con'iprising the vertical walls 28, 29 and 30 connected by the 'lioriZont-a'l vebs 3'1 and 32, the top edge or the cylindrical wall being closed by an end wall 33, the cylindrical stepped up structure having walls of progressively decreasing diameters which rest upon the seat 34 within the inner line-r 18.

Theouter wall 35 of the intermediate stage 38 istastened to the web 31 by bolts 37 and it extends beyond the inner liner 18 which is clamped in place the shoulder 38. The

outer wall 35 oi the intermediate stage is suificientlyspaced from the inner liner 18 to provide the space for the outer stage and t carries a cylindrical amalgamator plate 39. On its inner face there is an inner liner 40 generically like the inner liner 18 but it has an inturned lower edge 41 which is fastened to the web 32 by bolts 42. The space between the cylindrical wall 29 andthe lower portion of the outer Wall 35 of the intermediate sta e provides a mercury chamber or trap 43 in which mercury will be received to spin up the space between the in her liner 4() and the wall 35 when the device is rotated.

. Resting upon the set screws 44 passing through the web 32 and the member 40. is

groove shaped lower end 45 of the inner wall for the first stage. It is cylindrical and it constitutes the inner wall for the intermediate stage being provided with a .cylindrical amalgainator plate 46 so that the cylindrical space '36 is formed for the intermediate stage similar to the manner in Which the space 47 is formed for the outer sleeve. I

The free end 48 of the member 45 carries a perforate inner liner 49 similar to the inner liners 18 and 40 having the same kind of perforations and being spaced from the wall 46 of thewall of the first stage so that the mercury may move up from the mercury trap 50 into the perforations in the inner liner 49. Breather pipes 51 and 52 may be provided for the mercury chambers 43 and 50. Additional breather pipes may be provided wherever advantageous. Attention is called to the fact that the wall of the inner stage abuts against the cover 4, this being possible by adjusting the screw/s44.

iheniachinevmay be rotated at a relatively high speed by any suitable means, for example by a pulley on the pipe (not shown) which is connected to the threaded portion 6 oi"- the collar a. When the device in some cases 1 bodiinent of in and sand or ore pulp is fed in hrough he opening in the collar 5, it will be oistributed in radial stream lines'by the distributor 7 so that it first comes into contact with the mercury in the perforations of the inner liner 49 to be acted upon by the mercury. y it gravitates through the spac between the wall 30 and the inner wall of the member 45 and since the bottom of the member 45"is spaced from the inturned end 41 of the member 40, the sand and pulp will pass from the first inner concentric stage to the inte mediate concentric stage 36 being subjected to the action of the mercury iii the iiin'erliner 40 and to the amalgaiiratoz' plate 46 It, will then pass over to the outer stage where it will be subjected to the 'action oi" the amalagamator plate 39 and the mercury in the inner liner 18. During its passage through the outer stage, it will gravitate to the bottom of the outer stage and pass up between the ribs 24 over the outlet pipe 25 and due to centrifugal force, it will follow the shape of the cone 11 riding over the amalgamator plate 53 and then over the mercury in the perforated inner liner 15 and hue ly gravitate to the chimp pile. I

it will be observed that the surface of the mercury iiig away the surface of the mercury will be eliminated, due to the fact that the sand will be received in a thin strata within the mercury cups or recesses so it will be carried around with the mercury at the same speed with the mercury andany scouring Ieti'ect which may result on account oi speed differentiation will be a scouring effect on the sand itself, that is the sand outside the.

plates so that a relatively large yield of precious metal will be insured.

preter t J the machine sube ilh rates. but for some pur- E'inay oi U the inner liners. In such however 4.,131 9-fQ1' to still use mercury from the mercury chambers 21, 43*and 50 but Tinay omit the mercury and use only the amalgamato-r plates or I may omit the amal amator plates but .none of these suggestedjchanges appear tome at this time to be as effective" as theillust-rated emy invention for accomplishing the-desired result. I

it will also be observed that when the hiercury is up in the rotor between-the wall of V the'rotor and inner liner tlia t it is' o'iit 'of the sump but it seals off the interior of the in B in the pockets one. .ceesses so that liability of the sand c c tor from the sump so that the pulp or sand cannot enter the sump which is now devoid of mercury, due to the fact that the centrifugal force has moved the mercury up into the cups.

That I claim and tersPatent is 1- 1. A centrifugal separator having a mercury stage and a perforate inner liner for the stage provided with mercury cups, there being a mercury passageway between the inner liner and the wall of the stage adapted to deliver mercury to the cups and a mercury chamber at the bottom of the stage communicating with the passageway;

2. In a centrifugal separator, a rotor having an inlet and an outlet, a perforate inner liner within the rotor being spaced at least in part from the wall of the rotor and a mercury chamber in the bottom of the rotor communicable with the perforations through the spacing between the inner liner and the rotor.

3. In a centrifugal separator, a rotor having an inlet and an outlet, a perforate inner liner within the rotor being spaced at least in part from the wall of the rotor and a mercury chamber communicable with the periorations through the spacing between the inner liner and the rotor.

4. In a centrifugal separator, a rotor having a plurality of concentric stages, each provided with mercury cells along its wall, each stage having a mercury chamber for supplying mercury to the mercury cells, and passageways between the stages for permitting material passed through the machine to by-pass the mercury chambers in passing from one stage to the other.

5. In a centrifugal separator, a rotorhaving a plurality of concentric stages, each provided with mercury cells along its wall, each stage having a mercury chamber'for supplying mercury to the mercury cells, and passageways between the stages for permitting material passed through the machine to bypass the mercury chambers in passing from one stage to the other, the mercury chambers communicating with the stages through the mercury cells only.

6. A centrifugal separator comprising a plurality of concentric stages, perforated inner liners in the stages, separate mercury desire to secure by Letchambers for supplying mercury to the perforations in the inner liners and passageways communicating the stages one with the other, the mercury chambers being sealed off from the passageways.

7. A centrifugal separator comprising a plurality of concentric stages formed by cylindricalinner and outer walls in spaced relation, mercury cups on the inner walls of the concentric stages and amalgamator plates on the outer walls of the inner stages.

8. A centrifugal separator comprising a plurality of concentric stages in communication, means for supplying mercury to the inner walls of the respective stages during rotation of the amalgamator, a bottom member for the amalgamator comprising an internal conical wall provided with an outlet opening and mercury cups on the inner wall below the outlet opening. I

9. A centrifugal separator comprising a plurality of concentric stages in communication, means for supplying mercury to the inner wallsof the respective stages during rotation of the amalgamator, a bottom member for the amalgamator comprising an internal conical wallprovided with an outlet opening and mercury cups on the inner wall below the outlet opening, an amalgamator plate carried by the conical wall adjacent to the mercury cups.

10. In a centrifugal separator, a rotor having an inlet and an outlet, a perforate inner liner within the rotor being spaced at least in part from the wall of the rotor and a mercury chamber communicable with the perforations through the spacing between the inner liner and the rotor, the communicable ways being located so that they remain sealed from the interior of the rotor with mercury while the rotor is revolving.

11. In a centrifugal separator, a rotor having an inlet and an outlet, a perforate inner liner within the rotor being spaced at least in part from the wall of the rotor and a mercury chamber communicable with the perforations through the spacing between the inner liner and the rotor, the communicable ways being sealed from the interior of the rotor while the rotor is revolving.

In testimony whereof I a-ffiX my signature.

WILLIAM C. COLEMAN. 

